The reinforced mat for unstable surfaces relates to pavement systems generally and more specifically to readily installed matting. A unique aspect of the present invention is a reinforcing grid with projections beneath a mat.
People, vehicles, and equipment encounter a wide variety of terrain. On foot, people traverse nearly all terrain from temperate forests and plains, beaches, swamps, to the arctic, mountains and deserts. Vehicles and equipment traverse most terrain but have limits. Vehicles and equipment have tracked or wheeled propulsion. Tracks provide their own bearing surface upon which road wheels travel. The road wheels are integral to the vehicle or equipment as is the track. Tracks allow vehicles and equipment access to sandy, wet, and unpaved areas but face limits in high slope areas like mountains. Tracks also tend to damage paved roads and to increase vehicle weight and operating costs. In contrast to tracks, wheeled vehicles drive directly upon the terrain and do not provide their own bearing surface. Wheels allow vehicles and equipment to travel at high speeds on paved or smooth surfaces but face limits on high slopes and unstable surfaces like mountains, beaches or mud. When the terrain's surface no longer bears the weight or motive forces of a wheeled vehicle, the vehicle becomes mired.
Once reinforced, a surface can usually bear wheeled vehicles. A variety of methods have sought to reinforce surfaces for wheeled vehicles. Older methods involved wooden tracks and stone causeways built across swamps and deserts. Newer methods involved interlocking metal sections placed upon a surface. The military developed this as a rapid runway repair method in numerous variations. Civilian methods have included a variety of woven fabrics and mats of organic and inorganic material for soil stabilization. Prior art designs placed mats upon unstable surfaces such as sand and mud. The mats supported wheeled vehicles of many kinds: trucks, cars, trailers, aircraft, golf carts, and wheelchairs for instance. To paraplegics and other wheelchair occupants, proper planning prevents poor performance. A wheelchair occupant chooses a route to avoid terrain with a high likelihood of miring a wheelchair.
The present art overcomes the limitations of the prior art. That is, the art of the present invention, a reinforced mat for unstable surfaces, prevents movement and rutting of a mat. Wheelchair occupants hold in high importance the performance of their equipment. With the application of the present invention, a wheelchair occupant can have a path on sandy beaches, sports paths and playgrounds, and upon wet and muddy terrain. The reinforced mat allows those with walking difficulties and wheelchair occupants to cross unstable surfaces. As an adaptive device, the reinforced mat for unstable surfaces performs to the satisfaction of wheelchair occupants and others, and expands the terrain accessible to them.
The difficulty in providing a reinforced mat for unstable surfaces is shown by a typical mat. The reinforced mat for unstable surfaces started with poly extruded matting P.E.M.® products used on many surfaces. Alone P.E.M.® matting products covered unstable surfaces but developed ruts and shifted position with the passage of many wheeled vehicles. Ruts would develop in the mats as the underlying surface deflected due to the weight of the vehicles. In some mats, narrow width wheels would pinch the mat material and bind the wheels. Ruts became an obstacle to wheelchairs.
Reinforced matting systems are known in the prior art. The military has used AM2 matting for decades. AM2 is an interlocking series of square plates with molded edges. The plates are at least three feet on a side, take much labor to install, and bear the weight of landing aircraft. The military has also used sheet metal punched with holes as sections. These sections assembled into a grid to make a runway in rough terrain. The sections required significant transportation assets for delivery and labor for installation or removal.
In civilian applications, matting comes in a variety of materials. Matting can be organic to stabilize terrain while permitting growth of vegetation. This matting sees use on hillsides and erosion control projects, but does not support vehicle traffic. Inorganic matting sees numerous uses. As solid sheets, matting can be staked to a surface however, vehicle traffic will move sheet matting out of position and permit ruts due to deflection of the ground surface beneath the sheet. As a perforated sheet, matting permits vehicle traffic but requires staking lest the traffic reposition the sheet. Perforated sheets permit ruts unless vegetative re-growth succeeds. Generally, matting requires separate staking to withstand vehicle traffic.
Thus, prior art devices do not provide for a device combining matting and staking into one material. The present invention does have a reinforcing lattice with projections beneath a mat.